Field of Invention
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to the field of electrical connectors, and, more particularly, to electrical connectors for pluggable Land Grid Array (LGA) sockets.
Description of Related Art
Developers continue to attempt to increase the number of electronic components being included on a multi-chip module (MCM) while at the same time decreasing the size of the MCM. As a result, the heat generated by these densely populated components on a MCM during operation can be especially problematic during operation. Also, pluggable connectors for optical-to-electrical transceivers allow for optical communications external to the MCM to be converted to electrical communications for components on the MCM. Such pluggable connectors provide off-module optical communications that generally produce a high bandwidth communication with high reliability and high signal integrity. Similarly, some conventional pluggable connectors for optical-to-electrical transceivers can have a small area for heat removal, which implies high thermal impedance. Other conventional pluggable connectors can have a larger area for heat removal. However, these larger pluggable connectors can be physical large devices that consume a large amount of valuable surface area of the MCM.
Traditional high density LGA connectors provide contact alignment, engagement and establish reliable connections during insertion of a module into a socket in an orthogonal direction to a PCB surface. Insertion is often in a vertical direction for a horizontal board which deforms individual cantilevers, springs or electrically conductive elastic polymer contacts to maintain electrical connections. This actuation direction limits the possible configurations for tightly packed board components and drives board removal or open drawer access for field connections of LGA components. Ideally an exposed edge of a PCB or card with coplanar module insertion capability similar to an edge connector would be very useful. However these are often limited to contacts of only a few rows deep and have low contact array density to provide shielding for high speed signal contacts and wiring.